Youth strike 4 climate: Thousands of school students skip class to demand action over climate change

Thousands of school students have skipped classes today to demand governments take action on climate change.

Strikes took place in 60 towns and cities across the country from Cornwall to the Scottish Highlands, in the face of "an alarming lack of Government leadership" on climate change.

In London, hundreds of eco-aware children, many in uniform, descended on Parliament Square for the unprecedented walk-out, which has caused a headache for teachers keen to support the cause but unable to condone authorised absenteeism.

While it would usually incur a £60 fine, parents at some schools indicated teachers will turn a blind eye.

The movement was inspired by Swedish teenager Greta Thunberg, who protests every Friday outside her country’s parliament to urge leaders to tackle climate change.

Today’s action was organised by the Youth Strike 4 Climate group, aimed at drawing attention to “an alarming lack of government leadership” on climate change.

Hannah-Jane Kenton, 11, from Hitchin Girls’ School in Hertfordshire, was among the first to arrive outside Parliament this morning.

She said: “We need to do this. The leaders are all wasting time arguing over Brexit when they could be discussing important things … our world is dying, they are not listening.”

Cyrus Jarvis, 15, from London Academy said: “We want the next generation to have a future. We’re coming down here to get that change now.

“We want the politicians to actually listen to the scientists and young people. Climate change isn’t reversible so we need to act now.”

At Streatham and Clapham High School, a member of the Girls’ Day School Trust, the children wrote to local MP Dr Rosena Allin-Khan calling for action.

Amelia Semple, 12, said: “We are the generation who has to make the change.”

Lottie Gill, 17, added: “I think a lot of people are quite naive about it. It’s important to keep the issue going. It shouldn’t just be one day in school. It should be every day.”

Deputy head teacher Gill Cross, said if it was up to her they would all be protesting, but added: “Clearly educating is incredibly important, and the more educated they are, the more able they are to change things like this.”

Outside Cambridgeshire County Council’s offices in Cambridge students carried banners bearing slogans including “there is no planet B,” “global warming isn’t a prediction - it’s happening” and “when did children become the adults?”.

One protester stood on the steps of the council's building with a megaphone and led chants of 'whose future? Our future' and 'hey, ho, fossil fuels have got to go'.

Jasper Giles, a six-year-old pupil at University of Cambridge Primary School, was at the protest with his mother Alissia Roberts.

His mother said: "I think it's worth taking a day off school to show support for this movement. I think it's really important and it will gather momentum."

Maria Boznikoba, 40, attended with her eight-year-old daughter Gwen who is home-schooled.

"I really worry for the future of my daughter and I don't want her to be dealing with the stuff we're going to leave behind," she said.

Ten-year-old Zachary Hird, a pupil at Cambridge's Newnham Croft Primary School, attended with his mother Diane Hird.

He said: "We don't want climate change and people just have to change their ways as we don't want the world as it is right now.

"We just want to make people aware of it.

"We were talking about it in our class so we just came along."

Asked how he felt about missing lessons for the day, he said: "I feel climate change is more important - the world dying is a lot more bad than just, yeah."

Meanwhile, in Brighton, students held banners that said they were refusing to take exams, while others read: "Why should I clean my room when the world is in such a mess". They then chanted for climate action immediately.

Roseanne Steffen, 21, a student at the University of Sussex, said: "We're protesting against the governmental inaction over climate change. We're also part of an international movement for the demanding of much more concentrated action.

"We think our leaders have been acting irresponsibly towards this issue and it should have been made a number one priority years ago.

"We've had the climate science for 20 plus years and we've been in denial about it, so we need to react urgently.

"The UK Government and particularly Britain in its history has been a key emitter of carbon. Ever since the industrial revolution, we've been polluting the atmosphere.

"We've been really lucky as a university to have the support because they have been doing the research on climate change and it's looking bleak. They understand the imperative of action."

Downing Street said that while it was important for young people to engage with issues like climate change, the disruption to planned lesson time was damaging for pupils.

"Everybody wants young people to be engaged in the issues that affect them most so that we can build a brighter future for all of us," a No 10 spokeswoman said.

"But it is important to emphasise that disruption increases teachers' workloads and wastes lesson time that teachers have carefully prepared for.

"That time is crucial for young people, precisely so that they can develop into the top scientists, engineers and advocates we need to help tackle this problem."

The First Minister of Scotland Nicola Sturgeon backed the protestors on Twitter, describing their actions as a “cause for optimism in an often dark world.”

While she said the Scottish Government was a "world leader" in acting against climate change, the urgency of the issue meant "it is right that we are all challenged to do more and that we hear the voice of the next generation".

"It's a cause for optimism, in an often dark world, that young people are taking a stand on climate change," she said.